Internal-combustion engine



C. J. TOTH May is, 1924.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 12, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 6 1924.

c. .1. TOTH INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 12, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 C. J. TO'TH INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE May 6 1924.

Filed April 12 1922 3 Shifts-Sheet 5 L wen 01 5 J 00 Li/7A Patented May 6, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. TOTE, OF STAPLETON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL PROCESS AND ENGINEERING CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Application filed April 12, 1922. Serial No. 551,810.

To all whom it may concern. The continuous localized heating and cool- Be it known that I, CHARLES J. Tom, a ing etl'ects applied to portions of the valve citizen of the Re ublic of Uruguay, and will effect material stresses therein. Such 65 resident of Stap eton, New York city, constructions also commonly provide bearcounty of Richmond, and State of New ing means for the valve so arranged that York, have invented certain new and usethe Valve is held rigidly against axial movet'ul Improvements in Internal-Combustion lnent. On account, therefore, of the stresses Engines, of which the follmving is a specifidue to temperature changes sectional def- 6o cation. orniat-ion of the valve is extremely likely 10 The lnyention relates to internal combusto occur.

U011, engines, and particularly to such ven- These defects are overcome in the present gines of the rotary-valve-controlled type. construction, in which individual valves are ltis particularly applicable to multi-cylinprovided for the separate cylinders, and 0 der engines of the four-cycle type. these valves are so mounted as to permit The invention provides improvements in elongation or contraction of the same in the the construction, manner of mounting, and axial direction without sectional deformamanner of operating, rotary valves contion. trolling the admission of chargeinto, and In the referred construction 1: provide exhaust of burnt gases from, the cylinder valves at tie tops of the cylinders with their 20 or cylinders of internal combustion engines. axes at right angles to the axis of the crank When the invention is used with multishaft, the invention not, however, being cylinder engines it provides separate rotary limited to such location of the valves. Each valves for the ditl'erent cylinders, each valve valve has an interior space which connects controlling the admission and exhaust of its with the inlet piping and another interior particular cylinder. space, se )arated from the first, which con- In the usual construction of rotary valve nects with the exhaust piping. Each cylin- H controlledmulti-cylinder engines a single der has an inlet opening and an exhaust rotary valve is arranged at the top of the opening in its head, and the valve is procylinders, the rotation of the. valve being vided with openings which will register at 30 so arranged that depressions or openings in suitable times with the inlet opening of the vvalve register at suitable times during the cylinder to establish communication the exhaust and inlet strokes of the cylinders with the first named interior space of the with oienings provided in the cylinder valve. The second named interior space of heads. .y this means the admission of fresh the valve is also provided with openings 35 gas mixture to and exhaust of burnt gases which will establish communication at the from the various cylinders is accomplished proper times with the exhaust opening, of v with a single rotary valve. Certain detects the cylinder. The valves are preferably are inherent in such construction and one rotated from the crank shaft at a comparaof the objects of my invention is the prot'ively low speed. vision of constructions by which such defects Various advantages are provided by a may be overcome. construction of the character referred to. In the constructions e1n11)loying a single These will be described more fully hereinvalve for use with a. plurality of cylinders, after.

the valve will be superheated at one part; The invention also provides various. im-

45 of the same when' a depression or opening proved features of construction including in the valve comes into position to receive an arrangcn'ient of packing the rotary the exhaust from a cylinderl After a short valves. and arrangements providing im interval a depression or opening, .in the proved methods of lubricating the valves.

valve. controlling the admission of cool niix- The objects of the invention comprise the 50 ture into a cylinder, will come into open provision oi novel and effective forms of tion so that this part of the valvewill then rotary valve controlled internal comb stion besubpcted to a. substantial coolingeflf'ect'. engines, together with various details of construction and combinations of parts. all as will be more fully described in the following specification.

In order that the inventipn may be u'iorc clearly understood attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application and illustrating certain embodin'ients oi the invention. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken through one cylinder and the rotary valve therefor of at two cylinder four cycle engine. comprised within the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2 e of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line -3-3 of Fig. 1, this view additionally show- .ing certain valve port openings situated to the rear of the section line for the sake of clearncss of illustration:

Fig. 4; is an enlarged longitudinal section through a rotary valve aud connected parts comprised within the invention and illustrating a modified form construction;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5-3 of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings. a construction is illustrated in Figs. 1 2 and 3. in which. a pair of cylinders 1, 2, are mounted side by side above a crank case 3, the cylinder cast ing at; being illustrated as mounted upon the crank case. The piston, 5, of cylinder 1 is shown as connected by connecting rod 6 to the crank 7 of crank shaft 8. The piston (not shown) of cylinder 2 is connected by connecting rod 9 to the crank 10 of the crank shaft, the crank shaft being supported in suitable hearings in the crank case.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 a pair of entirely similar rotary valves 11. 11, are mounted above cvl inders 1 and 2. within suitable transverse cylindrical openings in the cylinder casting. As is indicated in Fig. 1. valve 11 may be provided with a rotary bearing. indicated at 12, within the end of inlet pipe 13. while the opposite end of the valve has a rotary bearing, indicated at 14 at or about the end of exhaust pipe 15. Pipes 13 and 15 may have their inner ends supported on the cylinder casting. as shown, so thatthev are aligned with the ends of the cylindrical opening in the casting in which the valve is mounted. The wall of the cylindrical transverse (queuingthrough the cylinder castinp also provides a bearing surface against which the valve is rotatably mounted. this surface being indicated at 16 in the upper portion. 17. of the cylinder casting. above the combustion chamber 18 of cylinder 1.

The cylinders may be provided with suitable water jackets as is indicated at 19 a water jacket 20 also being provided in the top portion 17 of the cylinder casting above the valve. in opening for a spark plug for cylinder 1 is indicated at 21.

' The rotary valve for cylinder 2 may be mounted .in the same manner a valve 11. The valves may be rotated together from crank shaft 8 by a. suitable drive, as by means of worm gears 22, 22, secured to the valves. which worm wheels meshv with worms 23, 23, on a transverse shaft 24. which is rotatably mounted on the side of casting at. Shaft 21 is shown as connected by beveled pinions 25, 25, to a. vertical shaft 26, which driven by beveled pinions 27. 27, from crank shaft 8. In the form of construction illustrated the valves are rotated at one-quarter of the speed of the crank shaft. although it will be understood that the construction may be modified to enable other speeds of rotation to be given to the valves.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 3. cylinder 1 is provided at the top of its combustion chainber with a pair of separated openings 28 and 29, the former of which is an inlet opeuing, while the latter is an exhaust opening. Valve 11 takes the form of a hollow cylin der. the axis of which extends at right anglcs to the axis of crank shaft 8. A partition 30 extends across the valve at a point intermediate its ends. this partition entirely separating the space 31 at one side of the same from the space at the other side of the same. Space 31 is in constant communication with the inlet pipe 13. while space 32 constantly communicate with the pipe 15 which is adapted to carry cit" the exhaust.

The valve is provided with exhaust openings 33 through the wall of portion 32 thereof, and with inlet openings 34: through the portion 31 thereof. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 3 a pair of diametrically opposed exhaust openings 33 are provided and a pair of dian'ietrically opposed inlet openings 34. Openings 33 are adapted to register at suitable times with the exhaust port 29 of cylinder 1 and openings 34; are adapted to align at suitable times with the inlet port 28 of the cylinder. The arrangements are exactly the same in the case of valve 11 of cylinder 2.

With a four cycle engine, the valves being driven at one-quarter the speed of the crank shaft, one of the openings 33 will come into registration with opening 29 during each exhaust: stroke of the piston and one of the openings 3-1 will align with opening 28 of the cylinder during each admission stroke of the piston. In Fig. 1 piston 5 of cylinder 1 is shown as moving upwardly on its exhaust stroke. cylinder exhaust openins; 29 being in registration with one of the valve openings 33, so that the burnt gases will pass out through pipe 1 the crank shaft being represented in this figure as having a counter-cloclnvise rotation. One

of the inlet openings 34 will come into alignment with opening 28 shortly thereafter, when piston 5 has reached its upper position, and the downward admission stroke of the piston will begin. During the next up stroke of the piston the compression of the charge takes place, which is followed by the explosion and the next downward or work in stroke of the piston, after which the ot ier opening 33 comes into alignment with opening 29 and the next exhaust stroke begins. The angular positions of openings 34, slightly to the rear of openings, 33 in the direction of rotation of valve 11 are. indicated, for convenience. in dotted lines in Fig. 3, these openings 34 being, of course to the rear of the section line on which the section denoted by Fig. 3 is taken.

A modified. form of drive isv shown in Figs. 4 and 5, in which three rotary valves 11 are indicated as mounted above the three cylinders 1. In this case each valve is provided with a spur gear 35, these gears all meshing together while the gear 35 at the extreme right, referring to Fig. 5, meshes with aspur pinion 36. Pinion 36 is mounted on a transverse shaft 37 parallel to the valves, which is suitably connected by beveled gears and a vertical shaft to the crank shaft, 8. This vertical shaft and the beveled gears may, of course, be entirely similar to the shaft 26 and beveled gears connected therewith shown in Fig. 2, so that further illustration of the same is thought unnecessary.

\Vith the construction just described the distance from the axis of one cylinder 1" to the axis of the next adjacent cylinder must, of course, be equal to the pitch diameter of each of the gears 35. lVith this construction the two outside valves shown in Fig. 5 will rotate in one direction and the intermediate valve in the opposite direction, the various inlet and exhaust openings of the valves being arranged to align with the inlet and exhaust openings of the cylinders at the proper times.

I have illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6 a form of driving connection between each valve 11 and its gear 35, which is adapted to permit a certain amount of endwise movement of the valve relative to the gear. As is illustrated in this figure the upper end of the cylinder casting 4 is provided with an annular flange 38 within which is seated the flanged end 39 of a member 13 with which the inlet piping connects. An annular chamber 4] is provided between flange 39, flange 38 of the cylinder casting and an enclosing flange 42- of cylinder casting 4 which is disposed oppositely to the annular verti cal flange 39 of member 13 The gears 11 and pinion 36 are mounted within chamber 41. preferably in an oil bath.

The member 13, and the member 15 at the other end of the valve may be inlet and exit pipes, or may be members having tubular passages therethl'ough, aligning with all the valves, with which passages the inlet and exhaust pipes may be connected.

Each valve 11 is preferably provided with a portion 43 of reduced diameter around which its gear is mounted. Each gear is preferably mounted between ant-ifriction means such as the ball bearings 44, 45, which are mounted respectively against flanges 42, and 39, so that the gears are immovable-in the axial directions of the valves. Each of the gears is preferably connected to its valve in such manner as to form a driving connection between the gear and the valve while permitting a certain amount of expansion and contraction of the valve in its axial direction relative to its gear. This may readily be accomplished in various ways. In the construction illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6 of the drawings the portion 43 of reduced diameter of the valve is somewhat longer than the corresponding dimension. of the. gear mounted therein. Thev sur face 43 of the valve is provided with teeth or serrations 46 (see Fig. 6), which engage with corresponding teeth or serrations l7 on the gear; the width of these teeth or serrations extending in the axial direction of the valve and accordingly permitting a cor tain amount of relative longitudinal movement between the valve and gear while effecting a driving connection between the same.

, Each valve is rotatably supported between the aligned inlet and exit piping for the cylinder controlled by the valve, as stated. The valve is preferably so mounted as to permit a slight amount of elongation and contraction of the same relative to the inlet and exit piping to take care of expansion and contraction in the valve due to temperature changes. The joints between the valve and the structures supporting the same are also preferably so made as to permit the placing of so-called labyrinth packing at the joints. That is to say, the engaging surfaces of the valve and the supporting structure therefor should not extend in unbroken lines, but should be formed along lines which change direction in order that the loss of gas at these points should be minimized.

The preferred arrangementis indicated in Fig. 4, in which it will be noted that the tubular rotary valve is provided with an annular flange 50 at its left hand end which extends around a flange 49 at the end of the exhaust pipe member 15. The flange 50 of the valve is provided by enlarging the bore of the valve for a short distance back from its outer end. to provide the bearing surface 14. previously referred to. this bore 14 of enlarged diameter terminating at an annular shoulder 48.

Ill]

The exit pipe member 15 is provided with an annular flange 51 which fits within the flange 52 of the cylinder casting. A slight annular space 53 is thereby provided between the outer end of flange of the valve and the flange 51 of pipe member 15.

The annular space 53 is continued radially outwardly for a distance, as noted at 54, between the end of portion 51 of the pipe construction and the aligned annular surface of the cylinder casting 4. A slight annular space indicated at 55 is also left between the flange 52 of the cylinder casting and the corresponding cylindrical surface of the pipe member 15. A. slight outwardly extending space 56 connecting with space 55 is also left between the outer end of flange 52 of the cylinder casting and the flange 57 of the pipe, which extends radially outwards adjacent to the same.

Accordingly it will be evident that a joint is formed along a series of steps indicated at 4:8, 14, 53 and 54c, 55 and 56. This space is filled with packing. 1

It will, of course, be evident that a number of flanges might be substituted for the flange 50 of the valve, having rota-tive hearing against suitable flanges on the pipe member 15, to provide a greater plurality of steps.

The outer peripheral surface of the end portion of the valve indicated at 58 has rotative engagement with the bore of flange 59 of the cylinder casting which bearing is preferably lubricated. Accordingly gas within the cylinder can only escape there from, when ports 28 and 29 are closed, along the friction surface 58 and then along the path 54, 55, 56, or along the path 53, 14, 48, both of which paths change direction several times. Accordingly loss of compression in the cylinder will be minimized at this point;

At the right hand end of the valve the outer periphery of the valve rotatably engages against the surface 58 of the cylinder .casting, the engaging surfaces at this point terminating in the annular recess 41 which is filled with oil. At the right hand end of the peripheral portion 58 of greatest diameter of the valve an annular shoulder 59 is formed, which connects the peripheral portion 58 with the peripheral portion 43 of reduced diameter, upon which the gear 35 is mounted. Surface 43 of the valve rotatably mounted within the cutout por tion 60 at the end of the inlet pipe member 1.3 this cutout 6O terminating in a shoulder 61 which preferably is inclined inwardly towards the valve, as shown. The right hand end of the end flange of the valve is provided with a similarly inclined surface 62, separated a slight distance from the sl'ioulder 61 of the pipe member. The

annular space between the cylindrical suras will also the wear of the valve.

face 60 of the pipe member and the peripheral surface 43 of the valve, and the annular space between the end surface 63 of the valve and shoulder 61 of the pipe, should be filled with packing. Accordingly loss of compression in the cylinder at this end of the valve also is minimized, since gas escaping from the cylinder and passing between the valve and the cylinder casting along surface 58 would have to pass through the oil bath and then follow a broken path along joints 60 and 61.

From the construction described it will be noted that leakage and loss of compression from the cylinder well be minimized It will also be noted that a certain amount of expansion of the valve in its lengthwise direction may be taken up in the packing at the two ends of the valve without causing sectional deformation of the valve.

Efficient lubrication of the driving gears for the various valves and of the bearing surfaces of the valves indicated at 58, 58 are provided by the oil bath in chamber 4-1, as described. An oil inlet connection for chamber 41 is indicated in Fig. 5 at 63 and an outlet connection for the same at 64.

It will be noted that efficient internal cooling of the various rotary valves is provided without violent temperature change in any part thereof, inasmuch as the cool incoming gas mixture is constantly in contact with the inner surfaces of the admis sion ends of the valves while the exhaust gases contact only with the other ends. The incoming mixture will not only cool the valves themselves, but will prevent the oil bath in chamber 41 from overheating.

It is believed that the operation of the constructions described will be entirely clear. It will be noted that since the preferred construction provides separated openings in the cylinder head for inlet and exhaust, the cool incoming charge will never pass through cylinder ports which have been heated by the passage of exhaust therethrough. Accordingly I do away with the stresses due to rapid temperature variations which are set up in the cylinder head when the exhaust and inlet pass through the same port. It will also be noted that since the valves do not have shallow grooves or depressions in. their surfaces, to act as inlet and exhaust passages, as in the case of some prior constructions, there will be a less surface area of valve subjected to the high heat within the cylinder at different times. It will also be noted that the comparatively low speed of rotation of the valves minimizes friction between the valves and the surfaces against which they seat. in comparison with structures in which the valves rotate at greater speed. The provision of individual rotary valves for each cylinder enables the parts to be easily removed when the construction is to be overhauled. Other oints of advantage have heretofore been iiilly described.

It will be noted that the preferred construction described provides each valve with a pair of intake openings 34 and a pair of exhaust openings 33. It will be obvious that if the valves were rotated at one-half the speed of the crank shaft instead of onequarter the speed of the same a single opening 34: and a single opening 33 would replace the pair of each of said openings in the construction illustrated. Also that three openings 34 and three openings 33 equally spaced about the periphery of each valve would be provided if the valves should be driven at one-sixth of the speed of the crank shaft, and that the arrangement of the port openings in the valves would be similarly modified if the valves should be given other speeds.

It should be understood that while I have described certain forms and features of the invention with particularity, the invention is not limited tothe exact embodiment which has been described, but that various modifications may be employed as will be clear to those skilled in the art after reading this specification, the scope of the invention being indicated by the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an internal combustion engine, the

secured thereon intermediate the ends of the valve by a connection enabling relative motion between the same in the axial direction of the valve, and means for preventing axial movement of said gear.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a frame having a plurality of cylinders therein and a. transverse opening above each cylinder, a rotary tubular valve in each opening, each valve and cylinder having ports adapted to register to control the inlet and exhaust of the cylinder, means for rotating said valves together, comprising gears secured thereon, and means providing an oil bath in which said gears operate, said means also forming an oil seal in the path of gases tending to escape through said openings in one direction from the cylinders.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, at New York, Y., this 31st day of March, 1922.

CHARLES J. TOTH. 

